Topic: Rhetorical Analysis for Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
Description
Vriting 1 Fall 2014
Essay 3 Ozima
Essay 3: Rhetorical Analysis
For essay three, you Will be analyzing Tortilla Curtain by TC. Boyle for Boyle’s presentation of illegal immigration. There are many facets to illegal immigration and to this end, you will need to pick one facet of illegal immigration presented in the novel: illegal migrant working conditions, citizens: opinions, illegal migrants health conditions, the building of walls, the laws surrounding illegal immigration, the legal precedent Boyle is responding too. Keep in mind this is only the beginning to the potential areas of focus available to you, so I suggest spending some time researching and understanding the issues surrounding immigration. When researching, choose credible sources that initiate and understand the complexity to both sides of the argument.
You will need to stay away from sources that have a single political agenda What is rhetorical analysis?
To begin, a rhetorical analysis is NOT a summary of a literary work or scholarly article. Also, this is different firm analyzing a section or character from literature in which you were required to summarize or paraphrase plot or story line. Trying to understand the meaning or interpretation of a work or summarize a story is NOT the goal of a rhetorical analysis! Arhetorical analysis is not a book report!
Now that we have a quasi-working definition, a rhetorical analysis requires you to apply your critical reading skills in order to “break down” a text. In essence, you break off the “parts” from the “whole” of the piece you’re
You use the presentations of information (characters, theme, symbols, etc.) as a way of generating an argument about how well the writer captures the essence of their overall purpose. The goal of a rhetorical analysis is to articulate HOW the author writes, rather than WHAT they actually wrote. To do this, you will analyze the theoretical strategies the author uses to achieve his or her goal or purpose of writing their piece. Keep in mind that writers of difl’erent disciplines often use varying writing strategies in order to achieve their goals. Since you are required to rhetorically analyze literature, you will be using theory as an approach for understanding how well the writer demonstrates their overall purpose via a theoretical lens.
How to rhetorically analyze?
1. What is the thesis, what is the overall argument/purpose the author presents?
2. What symbols does the text use?
3. How does the writer use diction? (Word choice, arrangement, accuracy, is it formal, informal? Technical versus slang?)
4. Does the writer use dialogue? Quotations? Why?
5. What is the sentence structure of text? Are there fragments, run ons? Is it declarative, imperative, exclamatory? What effect does this have?
6. How does the author use the actions of characters to indicate his argument?
7. How does the author use the perceptions of the characters to create his overall argument”purpose?
These are general questions to help you begin to understand how to approach a rhetorical analysis. Again, you are arguing how well the author uses theory to create a stronger connection and presentation of the characters and plot line to indicate his argument stance. When analyzing for the argument, keep in mind that this is largely going to be based on your interpretation of the text, so read carefully! You will need to use your evaluation skills learned in essay two to better begin your rhetorical analysis of the text.
Rhetorical Analysis Sample:
Note: the sample below is a rhetorical analysis of how well the writer Howe uses the theory of New Historicism to create textual organization for his research book while creating a solid foundation for his argument.
Although he does not connect migration mythmaking to the beginning of an Anglo-Saxon sense of nationalism the focus of Nicholas Howe’s book= Afigration and Afliz‘hmaking in AngIo-Saxon England, does elucidate the impact of migration mythmaking on the imagination of literary texts. Using historical and political events: Howe argues that studying myth “is to examine both a culture’s reordering of its past and also some of the finest expressions of its imagination” (6). This New Historicism approach allows Howe to analyze the impact of earlier writings and authors, for example Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica, on writers and poets such as VVulfstan and the Exodus poet. In an illuminatingly clear and concise manner= Howe explores the intricate relationship between Anglo-Saxon literature (both prose and poetry) and the historical events that shape the development of an Anglo-Saxon migration myth.
Through an association between migration mythmaking and moments of crisis, Howe illustrates the reliance that figures and texts had on past historical events, focusing mainly on events such as the Viking raids.
He begins with the “infusion of history” into the current events of Bishop Wulfstan’s Senna ad Anglos (8).
The Rhetorical Situation:
Using either WEB Du Bois’s “Double Consciousness and the Veil” or Michel Foucault’s “Panopticism” as the foundation for theoretical discussion, analyze how well Boyle makes an argument concerning illegal immigration.
For this rhetorical analysis assignment, you will need to begin by reading Boyle, Du Bois, and Foucault. Alter you have read all three pieces, you will then need to isolate what you believe is Boyle’s overall argument on the issue of illegal immigration.
Prompts (choose one):
1. Analyze how well one of Boyle’s characters demonstrates the theory of either double consciousness or panopticism.
2. Analyze how well one of Boyle’s symbols (such as the wall or the coyote) demonstrates one of the ideas from either theoretical text.
3. Analyze how well Boyle captures the double consciousness of either the illegal migrant or the white citizen
4. Analyze how well Boyle uses the system of checks and balances (for this you will need to use the theory of panopticism) to create his argument concerning illegal immigration
5. Create a rhetorical argument of your own and make sure to clear it with me.
Requirements and Skill Sets:
Read with the eye of an evaluator and generate a strong stance for rhetorical analysis.
Quote from your texts and make sure to integrate the quotes.
Summarize with purpose-use the summary of the text to illustrate your rhetorical analysis and explain how the summary supports your analysis.
Thesis driven analysis argument.
Must use Boyle and either Foucault or Du Bois.
Must use ethos, pathos, and logos.
MLA: both manuscript and citation format (in-text and works cited).
Length: 4 to 6 pages.